1. Small and medium·strong medium companies to advance abroad are overall supported with patents·designs·brands

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MTIE), the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) and the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA) opened a ‘Global Hit 365’ in Imperial Palace Seoul on September 7, 2016. ‘Global Hit 365’ was an expert forum, to spread strategies to support the convergence of patents·designs·brands of small and medium companies·strong medium companies to advance abroad.

Recent markets tend to overlap with intellectual property (IP) boundaries and consumers show a strong tendency to recognize a product as its entire image merged with a patent, design and brand rather than to associate its technology (patent), design and so on.

Apple’s i-series products, such as iPod, iPhone, etc., create huge added value by applying innovative technologies crossing fields to simple designs with functions only, integrating easy contents and building the strong identity differentiating their products from others’ products by the consistent brand and marketing focused on the user and value.

The subject to be benchmarked by the Korean small and medium companies·strong medium companies to advance abroad is just this kind of ‘product-focused IP convergence’.

2. KIPO produces and supplies a ‘standard patent guide’ which is a guidebook for industries·universities·institutes

KIPO announced that it would publish and distribute the ‘standard patent guide’ which is a guidebook regarding standard patents to assist industries, universities and institutes in autonomously creating and using standard patents.

Since 2010, KIPO has supported the small and medium companies·strong medium companies, industries, universities and institutes proceeding with R&D in international standard-related technology fields with the phased standard patent creating strategies from the finding and planning of R&D tasks to the standard activity after the tasks are complete.

This guidebook is produced as a part of the standard patent creating strategies by KIPO. For a standard patent to make a standard product that is universally used, the patent cannot help but be used and thus it is a very important requisite in strengthening the market power. Therefore, this guidebook is prepared to support the small and medium companies·strong medium companies, industries, universities and institutes which do not directly participate in a program to support the standard patent creating strategies, so that they can also try to secure standard patents.

3. KIPO and the Rural Development Administration (RDA) opened a presentation of exclusive licensing of state-owned patents

KIPO and RDA jointly opened the technology transfer presentation by selecting the state-owned patents for exclusive licensing that a company and individual are capable of exclusive use for a certain period. A state-owned patent is a patent registered in the name of a state regarding an invention invented by a national public official.

In this presentation, the state-owned patents for exclusive licensing were introduced with regards to the difference(s) from the relevant previous technology and the commercialization prospect. Bidding procedures were guided and a 1:1 technology transfer consultation was provided.

Previously, KIPO was focused on non-exclusive licensing such that, if anyone wanted to use a state-owned patent, they could commercialize through the technology transfer. However, from this year, KIPO decided to positively carry forward an exclusive licensing action to guarantee the right of exclusive use for a certain period regarding some state-owned patents that are considered as needing exclusive licensing.

In a state-owned technology which needs an early stage investment of a company, such a further R&D until the technology is commercialized, it is really necessary to exclusively use the state-owned patent in order to reduce a possibility that a competitor company may imitate a patent product easily.

4. The number of polyketone-related applications mostly filed by Korean industries·universities·institutes has rapidly increased

Polyketone is a new material produced by compounding carbon monoxide (CO) which is one of the harmful vehicle exhaust gases and petrochemical olefin. Since this new material is light and strong, research to use it for a vehicle weight lightening environment friendly material has been conducted by Korean companies, institutes and universities. Therefore, the number of the relevant patent applications has rapidly increased.

Polyketone is higher by 2.3 times in impact strength and 30% in chemical resistance, compared with conventional nylon.

According to KIPO, the number of applications related to the manufacturing of polyketone which Korean companies succeeded in the commercialization for the first time in the world in 2013, and the developing of the product(s) thereof, has rapidly increased around Korean companies, institutes and universities from 2014.

The current state of the polyketone-related applications by years is as follows: From 2006 to 2013, about 10~20 applications were filed every year. However, the number of the applications recently rapidly increased to 105 in 2014 and 109 in 2015.